Don't Forget
by The Mutant Jinx
Summary: It's been two years since RRB vanished, breaking the hearts of PPG. Can they heal? Or will other events occur? Rated T to be safe.
1. Flashbacks and Junior Year

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A/N: Okay, this is another fanfiction. Obviously. And I want to thank Demi Lovato and her song "Don't Forget" for the inspiration.

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

**Enjoy.**

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**Blossom POV**

_"Leaving?" I asked fearfully. "Wh-what do you mean?" I trembled._

_Brick sighed. "We're in trouble," he said. "We have to stay low for a while until we're safe again. But don't worry--we'll be back as soon as we can. I promise." He gently lifted my face a tiny bit and barely brushed his lips against mine. He mouthed something like "I love you" and left me alone under the flickering streetlamp._

_I broke down and sobbed._

I shook my head and sat up in bed. As much as I hated it, I knew that reliving that painful night was good for me, healthy. Already the hole in my heart was growing back a little bit.

_But it will never be completely healed. _I knew this, too.

Two years they had been gone. Was whatever danger they were in so bad that they could never come back? I didn't know. I wished I could truthfully say that I didn't care. But I didn't want to lie to myself.

I climbed out of bed and went to my closet. I picked out a ruffly pink tank top, white capris, and a pair of pink high-top Converse. Then I brushed my fire-red hair out and tied it in place with a red satin ribbon. A little bit of foundation, eye shadow, mascara, blush, and lip gloss and I looked as if there was nothing wrong at all.

With a half-hearted sigh, I left to eat breakfast before I started my junior year in high school.

Oh, joy.

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**Bubbles POV**

_"Why, Boomer?" I cried quietly. "You said you'd never leave me."_

_"Listen, Bubbles," Boomer whispered, kissing the tears from my cheeks. "I don't want to go. But we--me and my brothers--are in serious trouble. We need to leave town until it's safe. After that, we'll come straight back, okay?" He hugged me tightly. "I love you, Bubs."_

_"Love you too, Boom," I told him. He began walking away. "Wait!" I grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Be safe. Then come back to me." I kissed his cheek. Then I watched him leave the little ice cream shop, never to return._

_When I got home that night, I cried myself to sleep._

I wiped the tears from my eyes and sat up. I stood and stretched.

Boomer would come back. I knew he would. He'd promised me, and he'd always kept his word before. He would come back for me and we could be together again. We would be happy.

I went over to my closet and picked out my favorite baby-blue dress and my little white jacket. I put on a pair of blue ballet flats. Then I hopped over to my vanity to put on some makeup. Next I brushed my curly blond hair and tied it into pigtails.

I hurried downstairs. Who knew what this year would have in store?

That and I was really hungry.

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**Buttercup POV**

_"What?" I stared at Butch in disbelief. Unbelievable. Impossible. Unthinkable. A terrible taboo. "You can't just leave! Not now!"_

_Butch sighed again. "BC, I--I'm in trouble. In fact, all us boys--the Rowdyruff Boys--we're in such big trouble that we have to leave. For our sakes. We don't want to die." Was it possible? He didn't care if whatever it was killed me, too? I turned away from him slightly._

_Sick. Wrong. Unfair. He couldn't leave!_

_"Buttercup...." Butch caressed my cheek. I turned my back on him entirely. I heard wind rushing behind me._

_Alarmed, I wheeled back around. When I did, he was gone._

_I didn't cry like most girls would have. I didn't curse. I didn't become some strange depressed, emo, or goth punk-rocker girl. I just entered a stupefied, indifferent trance._

I've been stuck in that trance for the past two years.

I got out of bed and went over to my closet. I decided to wear white Bermuda shorts, a fitted green T-shirt, and a black pair of Converse. I went over to my green-framed mirror.

There were purplish, bruiselike shadow under my eyes; they were very prominent against my pale ivory skin. It made sense, since I hadn't a wink of sleep last night. I hadn't slept much at all lately.

I decided to wear some green eyeshadow and some mascara. Not that I really cared what I looked like, but I didn't want Blossom to waste her breath on me.

I brushed my chin-length ebony hair until it made its natural flip. Then I headed downstairs to have some breakfast.

"Hi, Buttercup!" Bubbles said when she saw me.

"Hey." I sat down at the table. I poured some cereal and milk into the bowl in front of me and began to eat. I stared into space, the horrific scene playing in my head over and over again.

I wanted to forget him. I wanted to forget he ever existed. Forget I knew him. Forget I fought him. Forget we were friends. Forget I loved him. But I couldn't. For one, the very best moments of my life--the ones I wanted to remember--had been spent with him. Second, there was a gaping, aching hole in my chest, where he'd been. He'd been such a big part of me. I couldn't forget.

After eating, I went upstairs to brush my teeth and grab my school things. Then my sisters and I flew to school.

Junior year. Yay me.

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**Blossom POV**

As the girls and I split up, I couldn't help but cast a worried glance towards Buttercup. This morning had been one of the rare times she'd eaten breakfast with us in the last two years. She was so skinny now. Like a skeleton, almost.

I remembered a time I'd walked in on her during our sophomore year while she was changing in the locker room for gym. She'd snapped at me and told me to turn around. But before I did, I'd noticed something. Her shoulders were bony and the skin looked strained against the bone. Another thing almost had me crying for her.

Her ribs were clearly visible.

It was obvious how much Butch had hurt her when he and the others had disappeared. Before, I'd thought I had it bad. Then I saw just how Buttercup was faring and I felt grateful.

"Wait, girls," I said before they walked off. "Bubbles, you've got your schedule, right?"

"Of course I do," Bubbles said.

I turned to Buttercup. "BC....Are you okay?"

Buttercup nodded. "Yeah. Just tired." Her voice was bland and monotone. "See you later." She walked off. I stared after her. She was terribly sick. I'd thought she was fine when she didn't cry about Butch. But the reality was that she had the worst of all of us. She was like a zombie now.

I hoped we could help her heal.

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**And that's it. It's okay if you hate it. I'm feeling doubtful right now myself.**

**Please review!**


	2. Old and New

**A/N: I'm back with Chapter Two, since you all so _obviously _loved Chapter One. *giggle* Again, I want to thank Demi Lovato for the inspiration. And about there being so much in Buttercup's point of view, the whole point is that she, the strongest and toughest Powerpuff Girl, is having the hardest time. I think it speaks to people.**

**And about any typing errors, sometimes I can't type. Just bear with me.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

**Here we go!**

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**Blossom POV**

"Blossom!" a girl with short brown hair and freckles called at lunch. "Blossom! Come sit over here!"

I hurried over to her. "Mary Ann!" I hugged her. "It is so good to see you! How was your summer?" I sat down at the seat she was gesturing to.

"Oh, nothing special," Mary Ann said, fiddling with the hem of her cream-colored blouse. She grinned mischievously. "Although....I _did _meet a _very _cute guy."

My face fell a little at the word "guy." I tried to act interested. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Mary Ann gushed. "He's working part-time at the bowling alley on Main Street and....Oh." She took in my dismal expression. "I'm sorry, Bloss. I thought that, you know...."

"It's okay," I assured her. The embers of pain glowed in my chest and sparks shot out, burning me. I swallowed hard. "Go on. I want to hear everything." In truth, I didn't. I didn't want to hear a word of it. But I sat there anyway, nodding where I needed to, saying "oh" where it was appropriate; the usual.

Finally, she was done and I looked around. "Wonder where Bubs and BC are?" I mused. I couldn't see them anywhere.

"I'm sure they're fine, Blossom," Mary Ann said. "Anyway, now was _your _summer?" That was what I loved about her. She lived in her own little bubble of happiness and optimism. She didn't know the stress and pain of the real world. It was kind of refreshing, in a way. When I was with her, I got to live like that too.

I grinned and started talking.

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**Bubbles POV**

"BUBBLES!" A girl with straight brown hair tied in a ponytail waved her arms about frantically. I hurried over to her and hugged her. She had been my best friend since freshman year.

"Hey, Beth!" I said. I sat down in the chair next to her. I looked around. "Where's Kate?"

"Right here!" Another girl sat down on my other side.

Something seemed different about her, but I couldn't quite place it. Finally, I had it. "Kate!" I exclaimed. "You cut your hair!"

Kate patted her sandy-blond, shoulder-length hair proudly. "Yes, I did," she smiled. "You like it?"

"Yeah," I said. "It looks fantastic." I glanced around. "Where are Blossom and Buttercup?" I couldn't see my sisters anywhere in the big lunchroom and that worried me.

"I'm sure they're fine," Beth said. She started talking about something random and I had no choice but to listen.

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**Buttercup POV**

I sat down at the small, empty table. I took out my pencil and paper and began doodling some abstract shapes and contours.

"Hi," a voice said. I looked up to see a girl standing there. She was holding a blue lunch tray. She wore a brown button-up shirt and denim shorts. She was very slender and short, though not as short as me. Her skin was a mocha color and her black hair was plaited in a neat braid down her back. She also had black-rimmed glasses. "I'm Allie. Can I sit next to you?"

I nodded. "Sure, whatever."

Allie took the seat next to me. "What's your name?"

"Buttercup." I paused. "Wait....You mean you don't know who I am? I thought my sisters and I were pretty much world-famous."

"Really?" Allie said. She took a bite out of her hamburger. "What do you and your sisters do?"

I debated whether or not to tell her. I decided it couldn't hurt. "We're crime fighters. You know, like Superman and Wonderwoman. Stuff like that."

"Really?" Allie asked again. "Oh, yeah. I think I've read about you guys in the paper. The Powerpuff Girls, right?" I nodded once again. "That's awesome!" There was an awkward silence. Then she said, "What grade are you in?"

"I'm a junior."

"So you're sixteen?"

"Technically."

Allie looked me up and down skeptically. "No offense or anything, but you don't look sixteen. You look thirteen or something." She flushed, as if she was ashamed that she was so honest.

"I get that a lot," I replied blandly.

"Oh." Yet another moment of silence, with the only exception being the scratching noise of my pencil against the paper. Allie finally spoke up. "Aren't you going to eat something?"

I shook my head. "Why?"

Allie's brown eyes flickered to and fro. "It's just that...well...."

"I look anorexic?" I finished. Allie flinched, like she expected me to hit her. "It's okay. I get that one a lot, too."

Allie frowned. She took a sip of water. "What happened?" When I didn't say anything, she inquired, "Was it...was it a boyfriend?"

The word was like kerosene in my chest, igniting the flames that had been dormant for the whole school day until now. I nodded shakily. "Yeah. Something like that." The words were choked and hoarse. I grabbed my Dasani water bottle from my bag and drank some of it.

Allie eyed me carefully. "What'd he do?" She seemed concerned.

"He didn't really do anything," I confessed. "He, uh....He left me one day, about two years ago. Didn't tell me why, just said he was in trouble and had to leave to save his own life. He made it seem like he didn't care for me anymore." Addressing the issue suddenly made me hungry, and my stomach growled. Allie handed me her French fries. "Thanks." I began wolfing them down.

"But if it was just a crush, you should have gotten over it by now," Allie stated matter-of-factly. I gave her a confused look--one of the few expressions I'd managed recently. "Oh." She seemed a little embarrassed. "It wasn't just a crush."

"No, it wasn't," I admitted. "Not at all." Strangely, a little of the pain was lifted from me. Maybe confiding in this new friend would help me.

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**And there's another chapter. My confidence is still wavering, so I need lots of reviews! So please review!**


	3. Closing and Karaoke

**A/N: And here's Chapter Three. I warned at the end of the last chapter that this would be a short fic. Right now, I have Rowdyruff Boy withdrawal syndrome. Again, I want to thank Demi Lovato and her song "Don't Forget" for the inspiration.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't the Powerpuff Girls or "Don't Forget."**

**Enjoy.**

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**Blossom POV**

I gaped at the sign that hung in the window of the little diner. Were my eyes decieving me? A quick double-take told me that what I saw was the truth. The diner was closed for good. As I rushed home to tell my sisters, I felt like I was going to explode with glee.

"Girls!" I shouted happily as I burst into the house.

"What is it, Blossom?" Bubbles trilled from the sofa. She was busy reading _The Notebook_.

"The diner closed!" To an outsider, this would have sounded like total gibberish.

"So?" Buttercup's quiet, inflectionless voice barely carried over to me from where she sat in the recliner, even with my supersenses. She looked to be near the end of _Twilight_. _New Moon _was in her reach for her to read when she finished.

"So," I addressed my zombie-esque sister, "it means that Him's out of Townsville forever!" Yet more Gobbledegook for someone not in the know.

"Good." Buttercup went back to reading. She almost instantly closed the book and picked up _New Moon_.

"That's great, Blossom!" Bubbles seemed ecstatic. "We should celebrate! Hey, why don't we go to that little teen club on Main?"

"Sounds good," I agreed. "Buttercup?" She nodded wordlessly. I tried my best not to look worried. "I'll tell the Professor where we're going." I quickly left, attempting not to turn back and envelope Buttercup in a warm hug. Even after all she'd been through, she still detested being fussed over.

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**Buttercup POV**

I entered the club cautiously, so as not to draw attention to myself. I couldn't believe I'd allowed Bubbles to dress me up. I was now wearing tight black skinny jeans, a grass-green t-shirt with a darker green trim, and a jade-green leather jacket with tassels at the end of the three-quarter sleeves and trim the same color as the t-shirt's. The jacket was also short, only coming down to my waist, with wide lapels and two big buttons. Of course, I couldn't bring myself to look at my ballet flats; they reminded me too much of _him_.

Bubbles herself was wearing a frilly blue cap-sleeved top with trim and sleeves of a darker blue, a white miniskirt, and baby blue stilletos. Being Bubbles, she looked stunning. "You okay, Buttercup?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said. "Where's Blossom?" At that moment, my red-haired sibling appeared. She wore a pink tank top that was layered to look torn with a white tank underneath it. A pink belt rested on her hips about a red-and-black plaid skirt. On her feet were pink wedges.

"Hey, girls," she said. "The DJ just told me that it's Karaoke Night." _Note to self, _I thought. _Don't come here on a Saturday ever again._

With that, my sisters and I went our separate ways. I sat in a random lounge chair and pulled _New Moon _out of the purse Bubbles had forced me to bring. I made it through the middle of Chapter Three before I slammed the book shut.

_I bet the millions of girls out there who are in love with Edward Cullen think they know how Bella feels,_ I grumbled angrily in my head. _But they don't! They have _no idea_! _At that moment, shards of glass were embedding themselves deeper and deeper into the hole where my heart used to be. I put _New Moon _back in my purse.

Someone tapped my shoulder and I looked up. "Hey, Allie," I said in surprise.

"Hi," Allie said. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," I sighed. "I was just reading."

"Oh." My quiet friend sat on the arm of my chair. I couldn't help but smile. Allie's calm presence always made me feel better.

The DJ's voice suddenly reached my ears. "Now, who should go next?" I was aware of a bright light in my eyes. "How about this little lady in the back?" It was then that I realized that there was a spotlight on me.

I handed my purse to Allie. "Hold this for me, will ya?" People pushed me toward the small stage. I stepped onto it awkwardly.

Words scrolled across the screen in front of me. The song I would sing was "Don't Forget" by Demi Lovato. I knew the tune of the notes, so I figured that it would be easy.

The lyrics appeared on the screen. As I sang, the music began to play. "Did you forget that I was even alive? Did you forget everything we ever had? Did you forget? Did you forget about me?" Then it dawned on me that this would not be an easy song at all. Even so, I continued.

"Did you regret ever standing by my side? Did you forget what we were feeling inside? Now I'm left to forget about us.

"But somewhere we went wrong. We were once so strong. Our love is like a song--you can't forget it." As I sang this, I noticed two things. One, Blossom was no where to be seen. Two, I was getting more emotional by the word. I glanced down to see Allie in the front row. She gave me a thumbs-up sign. I grinned and went on.

"So now I guess this is where we have to stand. Did you regret ever holding my hand? Never again....Please, don't forget. Don't forget." The broken glass in my chest caught fire.

"We had it all. We were just about to fall even more in love than we were before. I won't forget. I won't forget about us." I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to ignore the pain as I waited for the chorus to begin.

"But somewhere we went wrong. We were once so strong. Our love is like a song--you can't forget it." As the guitar riffs began, I noticed that Bubbles was gone, too. Then, something caught my eye: a flash of emerald green, just near the front door of the club. Hope sparked in me, though I told myself that I was just seeing things. Despite this, I found myself singing the next part more powerfully than I'd ever heard anyone sing before.

"Somewhere we went wrong! We were once so strong! Our love is like a song--you can't forget it at all!" Tears welled up in my eyes, threatening to overflow. Strangely, I hoped they would. But they never did, not even as I sang the last part.

"And, at last, all the pictures have been burned and all the past is just lesson that we've learned. I won't forget. Please, don't forget us." My voice grew very quiet.

"Somewhere we went wrong. Our love is like a song, but you won't sing along. You've forgotten about us." I still did not cry, though I felt an odd sense of release.

The crowd of teenagers went wild. I didn't enjoy the praise. In fact, I wanted to get out of there. I looked behind me and saw a back door. Relieved, I climbed down the stairs. Allie rushed up to me. "Here's your purse," she said. I took it from her. "You okay? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," I lied. "I, um....I'm going home."

"Okay," Allie nodded. "See you Monday."

"See ya." I hung the purse on my right shoulder and under my left arm. Then I hurried out the door.

The door led straight outside onto Market Street. I resolved to walk home. It would give me more time to compose myself.

I decided to take an unlit back road home. As I walked, all the pain I'd put into my performance caught up with me and I stumbled. The breeze blew harder and I shivered.

There was no way I'd really seen that flash of green in the club. I had to accept the fact that he was not coming back, not ever. I swallowed hard. Then I began to sing softly to myself.

"Somewhere we went wrong. Our love is like a song, but you won't sing along. You've forgotten about us."

In the instant that I finished, I felt the presence of someone. Before I could turn to see who it was, hard, strong arms wrapped around my torso. The man, whoever it was, held me close to him.

Then a voice, gruff and so, so familiar, responded to my last song-statement. "No, I haven't," he whispered.

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**And there's Chapter Three. Review, _bitte_!**


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